Indexing type multiple station drilling machine



Sept. 19, 1944.

w. M.EWART ETAL INDEXING TYPE MULTIPLE STATION DRILLING MACHINE I Filed Aug. 4, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.1.

/////////4Z7///llll INVENTORS WILLIAM M. EWART JOHN H. KLASEY FIG.9.

ATTORNEY Sept. 19, 1944.

INDEXING TYPE MULTIPLE STATION DRILLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 a nil/UM o WILLIAM M. EWART 00 w JOHN-H..KLASEY 8 9 3% $475M w. M. EWART ETAL 2,358,389

Sept. 19, 1944. w. M. EWART ET AL INDEXING TYPE MULTIPLE STATION DRILLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1940 --4 Sheets-Sheet :5 I

v INVEHTOLRS. WILLIAM M.EWART JOHN H. KLASEY TToRnEY.

Sept. 19, 1944. w. M. EWART ET AL INDEXING TYPE MULTIPLE STATI ON DRILLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 4, 1940 FIG. 6.

Patented Sept. 19, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE William-M. Ewart, -Webster Groves, and John H. .Klasey, St. Louis, Mo., assignorstoCarter'Carburetor Corporation, SLLouis, Mo., a=corpo'- ration of Delaware Application August 4, 1940,"Serial'No. 351E362 11 Claims.

This invention relatesto'ineans and methods for drilling'andmachining castings and other bodymembers requiring large numbers of holes or other machiningv operations particularly where such holes are of difleren't'depths and sizes and required to'be drilled or machined at difierent angles. A particular use to which the machine is well adapted is the machining of carburetor body castings, although the inventions disclosed herein are capable of being used for other purposes.

One of the chief difiiculties previously met'has been that of-producing a machine capable of drilling a sufliciently large number ofholes in the same casting without involving such large castings and dimensions of the machine generally' as to make it impossible'to maintain sufficient accuracy. As is well known large machines of this general character are most conveniently made from grey iron castings which are susceptible to substantial strains and resulting, changes in dimensions after the machining operationrhas been performed. Other difiiculties with large castings of this general character are also wellqunderstood by those. in the art.

, It' is one object of myinvention to produce a machine of comparatively small size which is capable of drilling a very large number of holes with. extreme accuracy and which is capable of being adjusted to difierent castings and operations without-change in the main structure of the-machine.

Another difliculty which has been met with in previous practice has been due to the fact that the speed of the machine was the speed of the slowest operation, for instance, if there were ten holes to be drilled, each of which required three seconds and theother of which required twelve seconds, then the whole operation would have to wait until the completionof the hole requiring twelve seconds. One object of my invention is to provide a method by which the speed of the operation can be increased to substantially the speed permitted by the shorter operation increasing the number of stages or stations so as to permit the longer operations to be covered in two or more stages. 'Where the operation is slowed up on. account of the larger diameter or greater depth of a hole which is to be drilled, this feature has proved to be of great importance in increasing the rate of production.

"Another di'fficulty'that hasbeenmet in previous constructions has been the inaccessibility of'the" traveling work table and the great amount of floorspace required by the machine; One object of my invention 'isfltosubstantially increase the 'acces'sibilityito the operator for" loading and unloading thework holuersl and 'al'so' to' reduce the amount of floorspace required.

further disadvantage found in previous c-on struotiohs'hasberi'tfie difiiculty of eliminating chips and'dust, thechipsbei-ng thrown into a position where tlie'y"could notbe conveniently recovered eX'ce'pt bytheoper 'ator whoha'dto stop the normal loading. and unloading of the' machine for tha'tpurpos- Accordingly, a further object of-niy-ir'iverition is'to' produce a machine which eliminates accumulations of chips arid withdraws the dust so that the operator can work in a clean. atmosphere and is not required topbe interrupted. A'nother difficulty that has beenmet with the-previous construction has been inability to drill the castings from al-langles, particularly anglesofapproachbelow'the hori-, zontal. One object of my invention is to elimi-, nate this -difiiculty. Thisrobject includes the provision of means whereby the drills1. can be made to approach the. body member from the front, sides,- reanan'd top as well-as angles below the horizontal.

These and other objectsand advaritages will become apparent from -th'e following description when taken in-conjunction with-the drawings, inwhich: I f

Fig. 1 is a, front elevation of 'theimultnstation indexing type drillingmachine with one" half in Section.

Fig. 2" is a. front elevation of aslightlyfmodiand others in. section ;.'Fig'. 3 is a diagrammatic plan viewof the-work table of thema chine inb statmns;

Fig; 8? is a detail view. of therabutment.

Fig-n9." is? a detailr horizontal: section taliena o'n Referring-1o the' drawings; (Fig; -1) lthe woi kunits I such asca'rburetonbody castings are chucked onsuitable fixtures- 2 which 'are edually spaced on-therevolvingwork table e l'ving table or carriage '3 is preferably? constructed" in theform of a-solid'ringSlidably supportedontherisersupport' i and" concentrically centered by the rollers 5 secured to the table 3 and bearing against the ring 6 which is rigidly secured to the riser support. For driving the table, a split ring gear I is mounted on the underside of the r table and driven by the pinion 9 operated by the 5 indexing unit, indicated at 9.

Riser I0 supported on base member II extends upwardly through the table 3 and supports a member comprising a horizontal bed I2 and a vertical conduit I3 flanged at I I, to which an exhaust duct, 10 is connected. Bed I2 is of hollow construction and provided with a plurality of openings I5 for removing dust incident to the operations performed on work I.

With continued operation of the machine, dust will collect between the fixtures 2 and the riser I0, and to remove this, one of the openings I5 is provided with an extension conduit I6 extending in close proximity to the top of the table 3 for collecting the dust and conducting it upwardly 29 through the bed I2 and conduit I3 and the exhaust duct. 7

Hollow Venting structure I2, I3 is provided with amiular T slots, one being shown at I20, for anchoring the lower parts of unit knees IT at any desired position, the upper portionsof knees I'I being secured to the underside of flange I4 pro,-' jecting from conduits I3. With this arrangement of mounting knees H, the greatest flexibility is achieved in mounting the operating'unitsIB' at 30 various angles from the perpendicular. 7

Base II is constructed with cylindrical side walls 20 which are provided with spaced T slots I22 for securing the knees or operating unit supports '2I at any desired position about its periphery.

By mounting the operating units I8 on knees 2I which are in turn mounted on the side wall 20 of base II, the base casting II may be made much smaller than is required when the supports 40 for the operating units are cast integral with the base. With the use or various shaped knees anchored in this manner to the walls 20, it is possible to act upon the work I at angles above and below the horizontal. A trough 25receives drillings from the machine, which may be swept out through a suitable cleanout opening in the rear of the machine. The units I8 and I8 illustrated are automatically operated from a master control (not shown) and the drill spindles 26 extend to perform their operation, and when finished, retract to the positions shown to clear the work as the table 3 is rotated.

' To remove a section of split ring gear I, it is only. necessary to remove the sectional plates 28 encasing theriser I0 and raise table 3 sufiiciently to facilitate the passing of the ring gear section I outwardly between the table 3 and the riser support 4. By this construction, it is not necessary to dismantle the machine entirely to replace the ring gear; thus, the time required to eiiect the replacement is only a fraction of the time generally required.

Mechanism for operating the table is shown in Fig. 2 in which identical parts are given the same reference numerals as in Fig. 1. The table is driven by the motor 9I through. the friction clutch mechanism 92 and suitable reduction gearing. Indexing is effected by a series of equally spaced stop block 93 which are mounted on the under surface ofthe table and positioned to engage a latching, abutment 94 so that the table is held in fixed. position until the abutment is withdrawn prior to the. next indexing movement. At each stop all the drills, taps, or other machining deby means of the knees Ill and I2I.

vices advance simultaneously to perform their operation on the work and the smaller operations are completed at one station. The deeper and larger holes, however, require more time and after the completion of the shorter operations at one station the tools, drills, etc., are withdrawn from the deeper holes as well as the smaller. The indexing unit then rotates table 3 another portion of a revolution or station and then looks it in its new position, and the operations of the units are repeated. At the next station each drill will reperform its original operation on another piece or casting but some of the stations will, at each operation, merely deepen, enlarge or complete an operation initiated at a previous station. All desired operations will have been performed when the table 3 has made one complete revolution.

Stop blocks 93 are'secured in radial slots between depending ribs 99 on the undersurface of th Work table. The blocks have non-radial edges for engagement by latching abutment 94 so that radial movement of these blocks varies the locked position of the table. The blocks have slots IIIII receiving securing bolts IOI.

With the use of the above improvements, the scope of this type of machine is broadened and efliciency is increased and its maintenance cost is reduced.

In Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, the drills I30, I3I, and I32 each operate on the same hole I34, shown in Fig, 7. At the station indicated by Fig. 4 the hole is drilled perhaps only one half an inch deep by the drill I30, at another subsequent station the drill I3I take it for another one half inch and in Fig. 6 the drill I32 takes it for another one half inch, which may be sufiicient to complete the hole. Other drills I35, I36, I31 and I38 may operate on the casting to drill different holes at the same or different stations but it will be understood that when the casting has made one complete rotation of the tabl all operations which are to be completed are performed and the operator removes the finished casting and inserts one which is to be operated on. It will be further noted that the timing at each station is the same. This timing for carburetor bodies is normally from three to five seconds, whereas a single operator might take twenty or thirty seconds to drill a single hole.

While the present organization shown and described perhaps involves certain features heretofore known in the art, nevertheless the new combination and arrangement provided produces new and useful results heretofore unknown, these results are to be found in the flexibility of operation, the convenient arrangement of parts and the new provision for accurate manipulation of the drill elements and the work table. The accuracy obtained by the foregoing is extremely desirable, andthe speed of operation is in excess of that heretofore known in the art.

With respect to the device shown in Figures 2, 8, and 9 it will be noted that the drills H8 and H8. are mounted in different angular positions By this arrangement the drilling machines may remain identical, and the cylindrical outer surfaces of the main base of the machine requires no change, for the, adaption of the machine to the drilling of holes at different angles of approach. Thus the machine is completely universal and may be adapted to different classes of work merely by changing the shape, size and angular surfaces of the. knees. The drilling machines shown are of th esi'n'gle fspindle' type, but where parallel holes fareto' b'e drilledihthe'same casting, a multiple spindle head is mounted fon 'theorill spindle. 'Fi'gure"2,the indexing is performed by'means of 3, Geneva gear mechanismi08, and the table is held against thes'tops by means of the friction clutch mechanism 92,'and in addition to the clutch mechanism, or in place of it, the motor may be caused to stall, either in reverse against a backward stop, or forwardly against the forward stop 93, the object being to hold the table firmly in place while the drilling operation is being performed. In Fig. 2, dust collecting openings H and extension H6 are of modified form.

The method of operation is generally the same in both forms of the device, except where specifically described otherwise, or where obvious from the drawings.

Certain structures involved in the operation of the device may be varied, as for instance the selection of the type of gear used in the driving of certain of the elements. Other changes in details will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the exclusive use of such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

We claim:

1. In a machine of the class described including a base member having upstanding side Walls, a ring type revolving multistation work table supported on said member, a riser protruding through and concentric with said table, a hollow member supported on said riser and constructed and arranged to be connected to a source of suction for collecting foreign particles incident to the operation of the machine, and a drilling unit secured to and at least partially supported by said hollow member.

2. In a machine of the class described including a base member having upstanding side walls, a ring type revolving multistation work table supported on said member, a riser protruding through and concentric with said table, and a hollow member supported on said riser and constructed and arranged to be connected to a source of suction for collecting foreign particles incident to the operation of the machine, said hollow member comprising a bed and a. flange constructed and arranged for securing operating unit supports therebetween.

3. In a machine of the class described including a base member having a riser; a ring type revolving multistation work table surrounding said riser and supported by said base, a member supported on said riser andconstructed and arranged to support operating units, a driving gear supported from said base, and a' driven split ring gear on said table, said table being constructed and arranged to be raised to permit removal of a section of said ring gear between said table and said base.

4. In a machine of the class described including a base member having upstanding sidewalls constructed and arranged to support operating units along the outside of said walls, a ring type revolving multistation work table supported from said base, a riser supported from said base, protruding through and concentric with said table,

and an air conducting member supported on said riser for conductingforeign particles from said table, said conducting member having vertically spaced elements for attachment and support of a machining unit.

5. In a machine of the class described including along the outside of said walls,'a ring type revolving multistation work table supported from said base, anda riserstructuresupported on said base andprotruding through saidtable,'a portion of said structure being hollow for conducting j foreign particles from said table by air pressure, said structure having bolting surfaces for supporting operating units above said work table.

6. A machine of the class described including a base member, a riser supported on said base member, a ring type revolving work table sur-. rounding said riser and supported on said base member, and a driven split ring gear on said table, said table being constructed and arranged to be raised to accommodate the removal of a section of said ring gear outwardly between said table and said base member.

'7. In a machine of the class described including a base member, a revolving multistation work table supported on said base member, a driven split ring gear secured to said table, a riser extending through said table, and an operating unit supported on said riser and overhanging said table, said table being constructed and arranged tobe raised for removal of said ring gear without removing said operating unit support.

8. In a drilling machine, a base member having a vertical substantially cylindrical outer surface, a track means formed in a horizontal plane on said surface, a plurality of drill supports car-- constructed and arranged to stop said work holders adjacent each of said drilling machine consecutively, drive means for said work table, said drive means including a continuously operating motor and a friction clutch, and means to operate said drilling machines and bring them into engagement with the work while the table is held in selected position adjacent said machine by the cooperation of said stop devices, the table drive means and the friction clutches.

9. In an indexing machine tool, a circular carriage adapted to :be stopped at a plurality of accurately spaced positions, said carriage having a plurality of radial, spaced slots therein, stop,

blocks secured in said slots and constructed and arranged to be radially adjusted along said slots, said stop blocks having rectilinear stop surfaces slightly out of parallelism with the respective slots, radially fixed stop means adapted to coact with said stop surfaces to stop the movement of said carriage at predetermined points, the angular position of said points being individually adjustable by adjustment of. said stop blocks along said slots.

10. In a device of the class described, a work support carriage having asurface of rotation, a slot in said surface extending toward the center thereof, a stop secured in said slot and having a stop surface slightly out of parallelism with said said abutment means, said fixed position being singularly adjustable by the adjustment of said step along said 'siot.

11. A' machine of the class described including a. base member, a revolving multistation work 7 table supported on said base member, riser struc- 4 aswss b eing rotatable to a definite fixed position against 5 particles into said structure.

'WILLIAM M. 'EWART.

JOHN H. KLASEY. 

